Tips from the Member Mentoring Committee - January 2010

CVB and Sports Commission Relations

By: Jack Hughes, Executive Director, Gainesville Sports Commission

The topic of CVB and sport commission relations continues to pop up in our industry’s discussions.  It’s not surprising.  The topic has been around since before the NASC’s founding!  It’s pretty obvious—and there are far too many examples—anytime there is a CVB and sports commission in the same city, there is a chance conflict might arise.  Squabbles over resources, poorly assigned responsibilities, and claims of credit are far too common.  

Sometimes missions overlap and often personalities clash.

Unresolved fights not only hurt both organizations, but also create inefficiencies that place a community at a disadvantage in sport event recruitment.  None of this has to be the case.  It would be nice to be able to say that resolution or avoidance of conflicts is easily corrected; they are not.  Let’s  look at some strategies to find methods that work for a few areas.

Personalities:    To work in our business, a strong personality is a required organizational leadership asset.  Pig-headedness should not be part of this definition.  If there are conflicts between organizations’ leaders, each should look to find ways to end the strife.  Without resolution of personality conflicts, eventually one of two bad things will happen.  Someone will lose or both will lose.  Nobody “wins” when stubbornness prevails.

Overlapping Missions:   Communities cannot afford two organizations with overlapping missions.  Eventually—especially in tough times—community business and political leaders may be forced to make choices.  Often the culprit in having two organizations that conflict is the governance by their respective boards.  Executive directors who desire cooperation should engage their board members, review the organization’s mission, and better define goals and objectives.   If you can’t build complementary organizational relationships, you can expect one (or both) organizations to face scrutiny and public questioning about your stewardship of community resources.

Duplicate Efforts:  Concentration on what your organization does best is a successful approach to consider and effective coordination with destination partners can avoid duplication.  There is enough variation in how sports commissions and convention bureaus meet community needs to avoid having each do the same work.  In our community, we brought in outside consultants to help us focus our sport and other tourism organizations to fit into the overall destination brand and marketing efforts.  We learned what we each do best and gained mutual respect for each group’s competence.  

About the Guest Contributor:
Jack Hughes is the Executive Director of the Gainesville SportsCommission (GSC), the 20-plus- year-old sports commission formerlyknown as the Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee. The GSC worksclosely with its tourism partner, VisitGainesville to host as many as40 sports events annually.Prior to this he served as theGainesville/Hall County (Georgia) Sports Council and CVB. His more than25-year resume includes the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, the CentennialOlympic Games, three Olympic Festivals, 1993 World University Games,the US National Hot Air Balloon Championship and the original EarthDay. Hughes is a Certified Sports Event Executive (CSEE) and served asthe Chair of the NASC in 2008-2009.